One Too Many

Watching Terry Schiavo starve to death is one of those moments where an horrific event is happening in front of our eyes, yet there’s nothing we can do about it. Except this is not a car accident and the incident is playing itself out in days, if not weeks, of slow motion.

Perhaps all the following are true: 1) Mrs. Schiavo’s brain is so damaged it will never achieve any semblance of human functioning. 2) She did tell her husband that she wouldn’t want to live under these circumstances. 3) He is doing what he believes is best for her.

But isn’t there a smidgeon of doubt about any of these claims by even the most ardent backers of Michael Schiavo? And even if we decide to allow Terry Schiavo to die, why can’t her death be speedy and painless rather than one of prolonged suffering? The legal system that produced this worst-of-both-worlds result probably would have split the baby in one of history’s most famous legal proceedings.

Today we wrestle over weighty issues connected to life’s end and life’s beginning. Precedents are murky, as well as the morality for each course of action. President Bush has said there should be a presumption in favor of life, and that is the proper conservative position. If one chooses life, then one can always change one’s mind later. When one walks the other path, there is no going back.

If we are sincere about a “culture of life” being a first principle, then we must adhere to it when our emotions run counter to our beliefs. The position is clear when the subject is abortion. But what about capital punishment? Unquestionably there are people who we can prove with absolute certainty have committed appalling crimes, who are irredeemably evil, and who, if the law allows, deserve capital punishment.

But is this true of everyone who awaits execution? All who sit on death row have been put there by the same infallible legal system that has determined Mrs. Schiavo’s fate. And if there is one innocent man who is wrongfully put to death, he is one too many. The presumption in favor of life is a noble principle, but we have yet to face its full implications. Terry Schiavo is deserving of rescue, and so is Scott Peterson. © 2005 Stephen Yuen